12 year old with ADHD

Virginia - posted on 01/30/2016
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My 12 1/2 year old son has ADHD and takes Focalin in the morning and Seroquel in the evening. The behaviors before the Focalin takes effect in the morning are unpredictable and often out of control with arguments through every step of the morning routine. He sounds so convincing when he tells (often incredibly elaborate) stories of how each issue was the fault of someone else at school, at the after-school program he is enrolled in for 2-3 hours after school, in disagreements with friends. Any questions to facilitate understanding what happened in each event he is upset about are met with anger, defensiveness, and often escalating to screaming. Any response from me that indicates doubt that his perception or accounting of the event is met with either screaming or a persecution complex ("everyone is against me," "you don't like me"). Taking away all electronics helps and currently is effective leverage for attaining the desired behaviors (self-control, getting assignments turned in, and elimination of defiance, insulting/offensive threats, name calling). It IS exhausting. He can be such a loving, generous person and then explode like a lightening bolt. The out of control appetite is really an issue right now. He doesn't care much for breakfast, lunch or dinner and eats very little all day despite lots of choices offered, but goes wild on junk food 1-2 hours after dinner and won't stop until he is falling asleep while stuffing himself with Goldfish after Goldfish (or popcorn or nuts). This happens almost every night. I have tried not buying any of this and getting it out of the house and he cries and swears he is starving to death and cries out "you have no right to starve me"--he is 55" tall and weighs 130 lbs! His emotional immaturity is embarrassing at times as, at 12 1/2 years old, he still occasionally bursts into tears when he is frustrated or wanting attention. His pediatrician has recommended a Neuropsych consult but we worked with a child psychiatrist and later a child psychologist several years ago with marginal short term changes. In reading all these posts it has been comforting in a way to see he is not the only child exhibiting all these behaviors but frustrating there is no definitive fix.